The present invention relates to a prosthesis component for anchoring with or without using bone cement and a method of producing it.
In the fields of surgery and orthopaedics with respect to the locomotor system, the artificial joint replacement has become a standard surgical intervention and is today one of the most frequently carried out operations of all. The long-term results of replaced joints have been quite variable and the life time of, for example, replaced hip joints ranges from few weeks up to 27 years (Draenert and Draenert 1992).
It has been found out by scientific research that different factors are responsible for the loosening of an endoprosthesis component, such as infections, insufficient surgical skills, choice of the wrong implant and excessive strain. Nevertheless, so far many cases of loosening could not be explained in a satisfying manner. It has only been detected that certain combinations of factors frequently lead to a loosening, such as a massive cement-free implant used in combination with the bone of a rheumatic. Such types of prostheses which were to interlock within the bone and were implanted together with bone cement showed (Draenert 1988) that bone cement as a filling material between metal and bone cannot fulfil an anchoring function but is pulverised.
The problem involved in the anchoring of prosthesis components could in the end be attributed to the phenomenon of bone deformability. This explained why an easily deformable bone of a rheumatic is deformed by a metal prosthesis anchored without cement such that rapid loosening ensued. On the other hand, it could be shown that a fragile or soft spongiosa as well as a normal spongiosa (cancellous bones) can be stiffened by means of polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) bone cement and thus gets extremely rigid (Draenert and Draenert 1992). A thus stiffened bone structure could be found with all those implants which had successfully been used for 10 to 20 years and could be histologically examined. On the other hand, quite compact femora could be provided with prosthesis components without using bone cement as an anchoring means, and several of these prosthesis components have successfully been implanted for about 10 years (Draenert and Draenert 1992). However, in these cases, the results could not be reproduced either.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a prosthesis component which can be anchored with or without using bone cement and with which, after its implantation, good long-term results can be expected.
This object is achieved by the present invention.